Infatuated Memory

Liu Jianhua

The coloured ceramics series from 1994 onwards mainly comprise of Chinese clothing and the lower part of women's bodies. In order to present my conceptual purpose, I began to create the new series - "Infatuated Memory". I substituted the clothing for cheongsam. Moreover, any inharmonious shape is transformed on a woman's body. I tried to preserve the original presentation style because I think the existence of the head (image) will distract from my main idea, and will take the attention of the audience away in an irrelevant direction. The symbolic image of the "Infatuated Memory" series is a combination of cheongsam and sofa. The cheongsam, which is the most representative image of Chinese women, will arouse the imagination and a desire for possession. Meanwhile, the sofa reminds us of modernity, power, money, sex, comfort and the West. When these two different images come together they provide an infinite impact on the imagination.

The installation of hand and necktie is designed to interfere with the audience's focus on beauty, and try to connect with contemporary life, the hopes of living and social problems. The material that I use is ceramics and the studio is in the "Ceramics City" of Jingdezhen. Ceramics have a very significant cultural background with a history of several thousands years in China. It was also exported overseas during China's illustrations historical periods. The combination of traditional materials and contemporary ideas is an experimental step in exploring more possibilities in creating art.

In recent years the Chinese economy has developed in stride, meanwhile, people's life styles have undergone a big change compared with the past. However, I doubt if the inner world of individuals has proceeded in such a pace. There are many unstable elements in our society, which will be exposed through different restrictions of conduct, and all disharmonious scenes are possible in different social environments. Superficial beauty is not able to conceal the loneliness and frailty of the heart. Actually, we are all living in an unstable, insecure and highly sensitive materialistic world.